In recent years, following the progress in digitalization and networking, large amounts of AV content including photos, videos, and so on are being stored on various home electronic devices (home AV devices such as TVs and hard disc recorders, information devices such as personal computers and tablets, and mobile devices such as digital video cameras, digital cameras, and smart phones). Therefore, when a user wants to view such a content item, it has been difficult for the user to find the content item unless he/she remembers on which part of which device each of the content items is stored. In the case where the user edited a content item with a device such as a personal computer, and then copied the content item to a different device, it has been difficult for the user to find the unedited (original) content item of the content item he/she is viewing.
With regard to this problem, a system (content management system) has been proposed in which all content items at home are managed centrally (see Patent Literature (PTL) 1 and PTL 2, for example).
In such a content management system, a home network is established in which each of the electronic devices is connected via a network. A content management database is created which centrally manages attribution (storage location, format, and a date and time of creation, for example) of content items stored on each electronic device. A content management apparatus which manages the database is set on the home network.
With the above content management system, the user does not have to remember on which device a content item he/she wants to view is stored, and the user can easily view the target content item simply by searching the content management database. Furthermore, since the history of edition made to the content item is also managed centrally, the user can easily find the original content item of the content item he/she is viewing.